A Message from the Executive Director Welcome to the 5th annual American Bach Soloists Festival & Academy. These concerts, as well as public lectures and master classes, draw to a close a year of splendid celebrations of our organization’s twenty-fifth year. Looking forward, we recognize that advocacy is deeply rooted in both the creation and sustenance of ABS. From its beginnings at St. Stephen’s Church, Belvedere, to its performances in Hong Kong and Singapore, ABS has always been at the forefront of historically informed performance practice. In 1989, a group of America’s foremost baroque specialists gathered to perform the music of Bach and, recognizing a need to present this music to the world with stylistic perfection, ABS was born. The core mission of ABS is to champion the music of Bach and his contemporaries through live performances, recordings, and education and outreach initiatives. Over the course of twenty-five years, ABS has introduced this music to thousands upon thousands of listeners who have responded with accolades and appreciation for the musicians of ABS and conductor Jeffrey Thomas. In its June 2014 issue, Opera News said it best, “Jeffrey Thomas draws crisp, vital playing from the ace baroque instrumentalists of American Bach Soloists, who provide galvanizing vigor but also caress the gut strings of their period instruments with unusual beauty.”
DON SCOTT CARPENTER Executive Director
ABS has burgeoned and matured over its first twenty-five years and it is now at the tipping point of its next era of significant growth. We are establishing both a cash reserve and a special endowment to support the Academy in order to create a completely tuition-free program, allowing access to the most promising young virtuosi, regardless of their financial abilities. We are actively increasing our presence in additional communities; and we are building the infrastructure to support an annual touring schedule as a way of sharing our artistic endeavors with even more concertgoers. As an advocate for ABS, you share in the success of our first twenty-five years and you become the voice of our next. ABS’s mission also declares its dedication to education. It has been over 35 years since California voters approved the passage of Proposition 13, which cut local tax revenues for public schools and virtually eliminated arts programs. With the overwhelming success of our Academy, it is time for us to expand our support of elementary and secondary arts education in order to ensure that we are training and encouraging future generations about the arts, in all of its forms, and with a special focus on baroque music. These in-school, after-school, and young artist-in-training programs, will allow ABS to draw upon our own musicians as teachers and mentors. We—all of us—are the caretakers of our cultural heritage. The future of the arts has been placed in our hands. By presenting the finest concerts, creating arts education opportunities, pressing our government officials to support the arts, and by raising awareness and, yes, the vital financial support to sustain these initiatives, we create a future for the arts that allows future generations to share what we have come to appreciate and to treasure. Be an advocate for ABS by sharing your concert experience with a friend. I truly hope that you are enriched by our Festival & Academy.
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